AKURA Dreamcast HDMI Box

Yes, you are totally right, anyone can praise or criticise it. However we've spend too much time while developing it and it doesn't deserve the words "useless" and "simple". I couldn't understand his intention since I didn't have any conversations with him before. I also praised Ozone's work too.
Our friends know how much we care about satisfaction and support, so we improve the products with their feedbacks. So I owe a lot to our friends in the Assembler forums. Thanks again for your support.

 

Just want to chime in with some positive comments. This product interests me, and I'm glad it exists.

I have a VGA capable TV which works great with the DC. But if I ever decide to upgrade to a 4K TV in the next few years, it's likely that VGA won't be an option. VGA looks great to me, and this is effectively using the same signal so it should be roughly the same quality which is fine with me. And it doesn't appear to need separate power unlike VGA upscalers, so if you ignore the "magic" that's happening internally it basically is an HDMI adapter for DC. No, it's not as perfect as the internal mod, but it looks great and no soldering is required. I wasn't interested in that other project specifically because it required soldering and it would require me to omit my BBA which I do use.

The only thing that sounds disappointing about this is a lack of a mode to stretch the 640 width output to fill the screen. We've got codes to provide in-game hacks that adjust for 16x9 aspect ratio, so having black bars on the sides is unfortunate. I can adjust my TV's VGA settings to eliminate most of the black bars, but it sounds like that wouldn't be an option here. I hope that's something that could be considered/added as an option.

Is there any frame latency introduced by the conversion process, or the device convert each scanline as it comes in so that frames are output as soon as possible?

 

The scanlines are most likely added analogically before the digital conversion.

 

@megavolt85 - makes more sense put that way, but you can't say digital - digital. Dreamcast outputs RGB or VGA - both are analogue. And your explanation shows that it is not useless - it's a middle ground. It's also overly simplistic, as there are expensive converters, too.

@OzOnE is a member here and has a thread here.

You are getting what we are saying about this being a NO MODIFICATION solution, right? I thought OzOnE's solution was a modification. People don't always want to modify their consoles - this is the answer! It isn't for everyone, but please respect that it is perfect for some people. You've said you won't be buying one, there's no need to continue to trash it. Even OzOnE complimented other people's solutions in that thread.

@beharius - I am sure that goes both ways, your threads being of interest to members and even drawing people to the forum. Thanks back! I think perhaps there is a slight language barrier that caused a hiccup in the delivery of what he meant.

 

It doesn't require a power adapter. Though we added a power jack for using with other devices that don't supply 5v through VGA pin9. It may be removed in the final product since not needed for the DC, or for those who want to use the extra VGA scanliner cable, it can be added too. There can be a standard Akura for the DC, and a plus version with a scanliner cable and an ac adapter for using it with other consoles. It supports resolutions upto 1080p.
Scanlines are added before the conversion in the analog part, so there is no latency or lag. The quality is on par with the VGA output. No loss or sacrifices.
As seen on the photo image is full screen, only very small black borders on sides. Your work about widescreen hacks is amazing, I will try one asap to see how it handles.
Thanks all for your support.

 

IC401 BU1426KS - 12bit video DAC
IC303 PCM1728 - audio DAC
OzOnE work with raw digital signal

 

Purchased a Hanzo box a few weeks ago and it has come in yet, but now I want this as well. Put me on the list.

 

I would like to see some comparison screenshots beween vga and your adapter to make sure there so no loss of picture quality.

 

Unfortunately I don't have the equipment to capture it.

 

I'm using the DC through the framemeister, and it looks fantastic.

Perhaps someone can work on a manners converter for yourself.

 

You just have not seen a better image
Everything is relative

Converting digital signal to analog always leads to a loss of quality
upscale amateur. If you have a choice of which movie you see? native 3D or 2D->3D conversion?

 

Given the choice?

2D -> 3D -> Polaroid -> Mutoscope -> bluray 4K -> VHS -> Laserdisc -> View-Master -> Finally to Betamax

If the movie is about the cure to your rude OCDness, even better.

 

Yes, but as I keep saying

SOME PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO MODIFY THEIR CONSOLES.

Please stop replying to this thread with your petty argument, or you will have a temporary ban. I don't have time to deal with this nonsense.

 

Can you add me to the waiting list?

 

OK, no problem.

 

Please add me to the waiting list. I am so excited about this!

 

There are many factors affecting the image quality. A source is only as good as the cable you use. Another important factor is the quality of the internal video processor of your TV. This is where the video is upscaled/converted to the TV's native resolution (usually 1080p or 4K) to be displayed properly. Screen size, cable length/quality, power source filtering etc. Also It's very difficult to understand the difference in quality when you play 6-7ft away from your TV. So there are many variables like these in this case. Although things sound fine on paper, real life conditions are very different.

 

Cable quality doesn't matter for digital signals. Only for analogical ones.

In the digital world, if the signal at the output is not too much degraded, the quality is 100%. If it's too much degraded, the quality is 0%.

A 1$ hdmi cable will work as well as a 1000$ one, as long as its physical integrity is ok.
I personally buy lots of 1$ HDMI cables, 1 or 2 out of 10 end up physically breaking, but I still have 8/10 that work perfectly fine for 10$.

 

Sorry I may remember wrong, probably a misperception.

 

Testing Guilty Gear X...